


The Worst Case Scenario (OR: Castiel's First Cavity)

by Cumberbatch Critter (ivelostmyspectacles)



Series: The Castiel Series - Fall from Grace [7]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dentists, Friendship, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Hurt/Comfort, Ice Cream, Possibly Pre-Slash, Teeth, cavities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-20 01:50:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2410559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivelostmyspectacles/pseuds/Cumberbatch%20Critter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The cold seems to be causing a pain sensation within my mouth." Castiel massaged at his cheek. "I think it's coming from one of my molars."</p><p>Dean looked from Castiel to Sam. "Is he... is he seriously saying he has a toothache?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Worst Case Scenario (OR: Castiel's First Cavity)

Dean wasn't entirely sure _why_ he was here. He felt like it was one of those bets that he had made with Sam and then lost, and now, instead of having to be the first one to shimmy down a gunk-slicked tunnel on a hunt, he was sitting at the dentist's office. With Castiel fidgeting in the seat next to him.

It was all just frigging surreal, honestly.

Dean hadn't been to the dentist in about two decades, but he was pretty sure he had nothing on Castiel, ex Angel of the Lord, who had never been to the dentist before in his life. (To be fair, Jimmy Novak had probably been to the dentist, but Cas hadn't really seemed to absorb anything from Jimmy's life.) Ex Angel of the Lord asides, Castiel was looking pretty dang nervous.

It had started out innocently enough, really.

_"You know what, this is pretty awesome," Dean said, biting into his bacon ranch cheeseburger, the hunt-well-done treat they'd found at a local diner._

_"What? That heart attack you're eating or...?" Sam trailed off, reaching for his beer._

_"No. Well." Some of the ranch had dripped off his sandwich; Dean swept his finger through it and sucked it off thoughtfully. "This_ is _really good. But I meant the hunt. I mean, it went_ well _for once. We didn't lose anybody, didn't lose a body part, a soul, a car, or the mook itself. It was just all around good." He took another bite of his sandwich. "Things should go like this more often."_

_Sam rolled his eyes, but he was smiling absently. "Yeah, but you know that they don't."_

_Dean shrugged. "Hey, optimism never hurts," he said seriously, pointing with a french fry._

_Sam scoffed. "Like it's ever worked for us."_

_"Pessimist," Dean replied, flicking a fry at his brother._

_"Hey!" Sam grinned and fumbled for the lost fry._

_"Hey, Cas, you're supposed to eat it, not play with it," Dean remarked, glancing over at Castiel._

_"Oh, you're one to talk," Sam muttered._

_Cas looked up, looking between Sam and Dean, and the half-eaten cheeseburger on his plate. He'd been dragging a fry through ketchup as Dean had spoke. "I am aware," he said, before placing the fry into his mouth._

_Dean watched him chew and swallow for a second. He thought that he winced briefly, but he didn't say anything so Dean didn't pull him up on it because he was in too good of a mood._

_"Little more enthusiasm, huh, Cas?" he asked instead. "It's been a great day!" He clapped him on the shoulder._

_Castiel just gave a customary half smile in return, resting his head in his hand and ignoring the rest of his food_.

Come to find out that Castiel'd been so quiet over dinner because of a _toothache_ , a concept of which the newly humanized human didn't _quite_ grasp. It hadn't come out until about a week later, though, when Dean brought home a half gallon of maple ice cream from the gas station down the street. (It was his favourite flavor, something he hadn't seen in freaking ages, although he couldn't remember where he had even first tried it.)

_"Come on, Cas. Try it." Dean pulled up short, narrowing his eyes. "If anyone asks, I will kill whoever mentions I'm trying to spoon feed you, so don't bring it up. You either, Sam!" he called._

_Sam leaned back in the chair, popping his head around the doorway. "Don't worry; he did this to me, too, Cas. Although, he was trying to get me to try it when I had the stomach flu, and I ended up throwing up all over the car. Kind of put me off maple ice cream."_

_Dean sighed impatiently. "Just take the spoon, Cas._ Before _it melts."_

_Castiel took the spoon and put the clump of ice cream into his mouth._

_"It's amazing, isn't i-"_

_Castiel dropped the spoon, his hand coming up to press against both his mouth and his right cheek._

_"Cas?"_

_"Come_ on _, it's not that bad, people!" Dean griped._

_Castiel didn't move for a second before straightening up, licking his lips. There was pain on his face. "The cold seems to be causing a pain sensation within my mouth." He massaged at his cheek. "I think it's coming from one of my molars."_

_Dean looked from Castiel to Sam. "Is he... is he seriously saying he has a toothache?"_

_Sam blinked. "I mean, it's possible, I guess. All that pie?"_

_"_ I _eat pie all the time and_ I _don't have cavities," Dean muttered._

"Not that you know of," Sam said. "Besides, maybe Jimmy ate a lot of sweets or something?"

_Castiel looked up at Dean. "A cavity?"_

_Dean sighed._

"Castiel?" a nurse called from the door leading from the waiting room into the offices. She was small, barely five foot, with shiny red hair and a lot of freckles beneath her green eyes. Textbook ginger. Hot hot hot.

Castiel's attention jerked from the nurse to Dean, and then back again. If he hadn't been oozing nervousness before, he certainly was now. Okay, so maybe, _maybe_ , Dean had been a bit of an asshole in showing Cas videos on the internet of people who came out of the dentist in pain or completely loopy, but he had told him that that wasn't what he was having done. ... He _had_ told him that, right?

"It's going to be okay, Cas," he said, throwing the gossip magazine he was paging through aside. A whole lot of trashy skank news was what it was, although that exposé on the actress who played the beautiful, busty blonde on _Dr. Sexy_ had been even more scandalous than Dean had expected. In any case. "I promise you're going to come out with all of your teeth and your right mind."

Castiel looked back at Dean, his expression rapt with worry. It was similar to that wide-eyed, buzzing look that he had had years ago when Dean had dragged him to see those recreational prostitutes back when Cas had still been an angel. It had made him laugh then, afterwards, after being run off by security, but now, it just made him want to smack his forehead against the window of the dentist office.

"Cas, you're going to be-"

"Your friend can come back with you if you'd like," the nurse added, smiling brightly over her clipboard.

"Wonderful," Dean muttered, under his breath, but when Castiel looked back at him, never saying a word (Dean got the impression that it was hurting Cas to talk, nowadays), with those _eyes_ that were almost eerily similar to Sam's dewey-eyed shit, he knew he was stuck in between an ugly whore and a hard place. "Fine," he said, raising his voice.

Castiel had the modesty to look at least a _tiny_ bit relieved, Dean thought, as he stood up with his friend. It wasn't like he really blamed him, though, to be honest. Dean hated the fucking place to begin with, nevermind _this_ place, who's slogan was _do right on your pearly whites!_ with a picture of a fake tooth smiling at them. How did a tooth have teeth to begin with?

"Come on. It's just a cavity, Cas, you looked all into this, remember?" he muttered, falling in step next to Cas as the nurse led them back to the room. She actually had a cute little ass. Cute wasn't necessarily his thing, moreso sexy, but... he was open to suggestions.

"I read about ‘drilling’ on my teeth," Castiel stated, his eyes warily looking around the room as they stepped into it. "I don't want them to ‘drill’ me."

Dean sighed through his nose. "Dude, you've been watching _way_ too much porn."

Castiel's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Okay..." Dean thought. "Maybe _I've_ been watching way too much porn," he corrected, although that wasn't a bad thing.

"I thought we weren't supposed to talk about it," Cas mumbled, his hand coming up to cradle his jaw loosely.

"Have a seat there. Oh, they haven't put your last name. Mr...?" the nurse trailed off.

Castiel looked at her. "I don't have a last name."

"Novak," Dean interrupted. "His last name's Novak." He smiled, a polished move, years of lying through his teeth but with a _I-don't-mean-to-hurt-you-or-freak-you-out_ glaze.

The little redhead gave him a strange look, but nodded and made a note. Maybe they got a lot of weird ones at the dentist office. Hell if he knew.

"That was Jimmy's last name," Castiel said, addressing Dean now.

Dean grinned, fake fake and more fake. He liked to call this his _stop-talking-before-you-wreck-it_ smile. "Yes. It was, wasn't it? Good old Jimmy." He gripped Cas's shoulder. "Sit down, Cas." He all but pushed Castiel into the reclining chair.

Castiel shifted a bit, not quite sitting back the whole way. His eyes left Dean after a moment and returned to looking around. Like a freaking kid in a candy store.

"Castiel... That's a different name. I don't think I've ever met a Castiel," the nurse said. "It's very pretty."

Castiel looked over his shoulder at her. He went through a motion of drawn-together eyebrows, eyes flicking between Dean and the nurse, and then blank again. "Thank you." He looked away again.

Some things, like manners and literalism, they'd managed to batter into Cas's brain. Like saying _please_ or _thank you_ , or that maybe someone on a bike yelling _fuck you!_ after being cut off by them didn't _actually_ mean that he wanted to literally fuck him. Stranger things.

"And it says here that you've never been to a dentist? You must have a perfect smile if you haven't had to come in at all!" the nurse chirped.

Dean didn't know if she was trying to flirt with Castiel or just being cheerful. For all of their sakes, he hoped she was just like that with everybody. Cas didn't quite get the mechanics of all of that stuff yet.

"Angels cannot get cavities," Castiel replied bluntly.

The nurse glanced up.

Dean put his fake smile back on. "Yeah, you know, my brother, he's the angel of the family. Perfection, walking and talking."

She just proceeded to give him a weird look before turning back to the paperwork. Dean sighed again. He shot Cas a look to say _are-you-freaking-kidding-me-right-now?_ , but Cas seemed to be preoccupied by staring at an electric toothbrush sitting over on the countertop.

"Alright," the nurse said. "Sit back here and we'll have a look see."

Castiel took a breath - Dean could see his nostrils flare and he had to resist the urge to shake his head - before sitting back. His fingers curled around the armrests as he put his head back on the rest, and the nurse reclined the chair. Dean could see momentary panic on Cas's face before it was gone again as the chair moved. Poor bastard had it bad. It was like Sam's first visit to the dentist years ago, except... Sam had been, like, six. There was a little bit of an age difference here.

"Open wide," the nurse said cheerfully, picking up the little sticky thing with the mirror on the end (again, hell if Dean knew the name, he was a hunter, not a dentist).

Cas's fingers tightened around the armrest. Dean was tempted to say that the nurse _wasn't_ going to do anything, but that was overstepping some boundaries of how much comfort he was going to give another grown-ass man while in the presence of someone else.

"Hmm, yep, that's a cavity all right." Nurse... what the hell was her name, anyway? D-Dar?- _Darcy_ , that's what the scrubs said. Nurse Darcy pulled the mirror tool out of Cas's mouth. "How long has it been hurting you?"

Castiel closed his mouth and licked his lips. "About a week and a half," he said.

"Any sensitivity to heat or cold?"

Cas nodded. "Cold." The curious look he'd had walking into the room was wearing off, leaving a subdued tone to his voice and posture that now said he'd rather be anywhere but here.

"Alright. The doctor'll be in in just a moment. Make yourselves comfortable." Darcy smiled and then left the room.

"See? Not so bad so far," Dean commented.

Cas didn't say anything. He seemed to be staring at the posters on the ceiling, but something about his gaze was like he wasn't really seeing them.

"Cas?"

Before Dean could get a response, the dentist himself bustled in.

"Afternoon, Mr. Novak, Mr...?" he trailed off, looking at Dean.

"Call me Deacon," Dean replied smoothly.

"Deacon." The dentist nodded. "I'm Dr. Marsh. Darcy says you've got quite the cavity there, Mr. Novak. Let's see it, shall we?" He prodded around a bit with the cavity, poking at the afflicted tooth with the pokey-type tool.

Dean didn't know if it was painfully obvious or if it was just because he spent so much time with Cas, but he could tell the ex-angel was tense from head to toe. He realized he was going to have to make it up to him after this. Not that it was his fault or anything, but... it was traumatic, he guessed. Ridiculous, but traumatic.

"Well, we'll go ahead and get you numbed up. How's that sound?"

Whatever Cas had been about to say in response - whatever _that_ was - was completely nullified when the nurse brought out the numbing needle. The brief flares of panic that Dean had been seeing in Cas's eyes turned to straight-out fear. It was a little unsettling to see Castiel, ex Angel of the Lord, so rattled over something like a filling. (Nevermind that the giant ass needle was enough to make a grown man cry, and even though Dean wasn't the one in the chair, he felt a little uneasy with the damn thing out anyway.)

The dentist took a swab with what Dean knew was topical numbing gel (minty fresh numbness! he thought sarcastically) and got Cas to open his mouth again, swabbing down his gums. And then he came back the needle, and Cas's hands turned to fists on the armrests instead of grabbing them, knuckles going white against his skin.

Dean was coerced into action. "It'll just be like a bee sting," he said quickly. He knew Cas would get that, even if the dentist did find it kind of weird that someone Cas's age needed to be told that.

Castiel's fingers flexed, but he slammed his eyes shut as the dentist inserted the needle. In a few seconds, though, it was over, and the dentist pulled away, setting Cas's chair back up.

"We'll let that get nice and numb, alright? Be back in a few minutes." And then he was gone, taking Darcy with him, and leaving Dean worrying a little bit (not that he'd ever admit that) over a potentially freaked out Cas (not that Cas'd ever admit that).

"Alright there, Cas?"

Castiel flexed his fingers again before opening his eyes slowly. There was a multitude of swirling emotions there. "That... wasn't like a bee sting."

Dean sighed. "It didn't hurt too bad, did it? Did it hurt worse than a bee sting?"

Cas seemed to, miserably, consider that. "... It wasn't pleasant," he ended up saying, sitting up slightly. "I'm going to lose all feeling in my face now?"

"On that side of your face, yeah. It might take a couple hours to wear off, but, plus side, you won't be able to feel anything they're about to do," he added. "No pain with the drilling. Just some pressure."

Castiel raised his hand up to his face again, touching his cheek gently. "It feels strange."

"It's starting to take effect."

"I'm not sure I like the sensation," Cas replied, pressing his fingers into his skin.

"It'll get better," Dean said, leaning back in his chair. He glanced around the room. He hated offices. Doctor, dentist, it didn't matter. They were all surgically clean, smelled weird, and looked like a metropolitan suburb. He looked back at Cas. "Hey, I think that nurse was flirting with you, dude."

Castiel licked his lips - making a face afterwards, as his lips were probably going numb - and tilted his head slightly. "She was?"

Dean grinned. "Yeah. You know I told you about flirting cues?"

Castiel nodded.

"She said you had a unique name," Dean ticked off on his fingers. "Chicks dig that stuff." He ticked off another finger. "She said you had a pretty smile. You've got that mysterious shit going on, and I don't know, you're sort of..." he trailed off, frowning. "Ruggedly handsome, I guess." He shook his head. "She definitely would have asked you out if she'd been here with you alone."

Castiel stared at him intently for another moment before, uncharacteristically, breaking into a smile. It was lopsided, even moreso than usual, because of the half numbness.

Dean laughed out loud and folded his arms behind his head. "Don't look so smug, Cas. Your face might freeze that way, what with the novacaine."

The smile melted right off Cas's face, replaced with that same sort of deer-in-the-headlights look that was Cas's not-so-subtle way of panicking. The guy was way too gullible.

" _Not_ literally, Cas," Dean muttered. "We talked about this. Joking, remember?"

Cas looked at him warily. "Okay..." he said slowly. And then he was back to feeling up his numb cheek, looking for all the world like the six year old Dean's compared him to mentally a few minutes ago.

Dean glanced around the room again before spinning around in the swivel chair to look out the window. Grass, trees, a squirrel. Wow, this place was super exciting. He spun back around. "You know what they're gonna do, right? You're prepared and all?"

Castiel shrugged absently. "Drilling, filling."

"You're a poet and don't know it." Dean shrugged when Castiel gave him a look. "Anyway, yeah, that's the general idea. It's a little unsettling, but the worst part is over." And he wasn't honestly sure _why_ he was trying to placate someone who was hundreds of years older than him, but... it happened. Now and again. Just not usually.

Castiel sighed, thumping his head back into the headrest. "I really don't like this place."

"No one does," Dean replied.

For the next thirty minutes, Dean deviated between trying to look interested at his phone, trying to look interested in whatever the hell the dentist was doing to Cas, and watching Cas's reactions for himself. He had to give him props; he never made a sound. Now, nevermind the fists, the subtle fidgeting, the start he'd given when the dentist first started drilling on the tooth... all in all, he wasn't doing _too_ badly. He hadn't taken off screaming yet, which was a plus. Although, given the hell and high water they'd been through, it did take a lot to make any of them scream, Dean guessed.

"Alright then. As good as new!" the dentist said, as Darcy took the gauze out of Cas's mouth. "Now, come back for a check-up annually, Mr. Novak," he continued. "We don't want anymore cavities in there, do we?"

"No," Castiel responded immediately, although it came out a little garbled. Bonus points for the half a numb face, and Cas couldn't feel that he was drooling. Dean grinned a little despite himself. It wasn't funny, but it was.

"You can go ahead and rinse your mouth out, if you'd like," Darcy said, gesturing to the small sink nearby.

Cas stumbled to his feet, making a grab for one of the paper cups and then the faucet.

"You're all set. Just check in with the receptionist and then you're free to go," Dr. Marsh said. "Nice meeting you two." And then he was gone, out the door to work on whatever poor bastard was next in the lineup.

"Yeah, right," Dean muttered under his breath, standing up to join Cas by the sink. "Nice meeting you, too, Darcy," he said, louder, grinning over at her.

"Uh huh." She totally ignored him and looked at Castiel. "See you next time, Mr. Novak," she chirped, and then followed the dentist out.

"Huh." Dean looked back at Cas. "You're c-blocking me, man."

Castiel raised his head, swiping the back of his hand against his mouth. "What...?"

Dean shook his head. "Ahh... nevermind. Next lesson. Come on, let's get out of here."

"Please," Castiel muttered, doggedly following Dean out of the office, past the receptionist, and back to the Impala.

It was silent save for the music that Dean cranked up once they'd hit the road. Cas's gaze was on the window and he didn't seem to want to talk, not that Dean could blame him. But still, when Dean took a turn opposite to the bunker, Castiel did look up and over at him.

"This isn't the way back to the bunker."

"I know," Dean replied, tightening his grip around the steering wheel. "We'll head home in a few. Making a stop first."

"Where are we going?"

"Just calm down, we'll get back to the mother ship soon."

Castiel heaved a sigh. "My mouth tastes horrible."

"I know." Dean reached for the soft drink he'd gotten with lunch earlier. "Here. Take the lid off. Don't use the straw, you'll suck your filling out."

Cas made a noise of irritation, peeling the lid off. "Thanks."

"Uh huh."

Barely ten minutes later, Dean pulled the car into the parking lot for the ice cream parlor, earning himself a curious glance from Cas. "What?" Dean asked. "We're going for ice cream."

"But we haven't eaten dinner."

Dean gave him a look. " _Sooo_?"

Castiel frowned. "Dinner before dessert?"

"Not today, Cas. You earned a treat." He turned the ignition off and flung the car door open. "Besides, you'll have a little trouble eating while you're numb so we'll have ice cream instead. Just don't tell Sam." He got the door, holding it open for Cas with an exaggerated flourish. "Come on."

Castiel led the way in slowly, his eyes flickering around the shop.

"Alright, just don't get anything with, I don't know, candy or cookies in it. There's, like, seventy-five flavors, though, so I think you'll find one."

Cas looked up at the flavor list. "... I just like chocolate and vanilla."

"Oh, come on, Cas. You're killin' me," Dean replied. "I think... oh! Deep fried ice cream. That would be good with pistachio... oh, or wedding cake. Or blueberry pomegranate."

"... Chocolate and vanilla," Cas repeated, looking over at Dean.

Dean sighed but stepped forward, pulling out his wallet. "Chocolate and vanilla it is, then, Mr Numby."

Of course, after they had finished their ice cream and headed back to the bunker, Cas fell asleep on the couch from a lack of sleep the night before, chocolate ice cream dried sticky around his mouth, Dean was brought right back to where he had been before: Cas was literally like a six year old. This probably should have annoyed Dean, after taking care of Sam when he was younger, but... he found he didn't mind. He liked having Cas around.

... Cavity and dentist bills and boring ass ice cream notwithstanding, of course, but that was all more or less trivial.

Castiel snored from the sofa, groping for the blanket Dean had tossed over his him.

Dean smiled to himself and, with an eye roll and shaking his head, went to go join Sam in their research hunt for their latest case.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've seen a lot of loopy boys after the dentist, but I just wanted to do Cas's first cavity 'cuz dentists freak everyone out, you know? Ex angels of the Lord, too.
> 
> I do not own _Supernatural_. Thanks for reading!


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